TN theatre owners open up on not screening Avatar: The Way Of Water

CHENNAI: As James Cameron's Avatar: The Way Of Water released today, many theatre owners of single screens in Tamil Nadu have opened up and expressed regret of not screening the film after they failed to resolve disagreements with the film’s producers over profit-sharing terms.

On Thursday, Archana Kalpathi, the owner of AGS Cinemas and Creative Producer of AGS Entertainment, took to her Official Twitter handle and tweeted, "Very disappointed that #AvatarTheWayOfWater will not be playing at @agscinema as we could not agree to the terms offered to us. Will definitely miss watching this film on the big screen." (sic)

But, just a few hours ago, she tweeted back, "Bookings open finally 😅 #AvatarTheWayOfWater @agscinemas."

Rakesh Gowthaman, the owner of Vetri Theatres, tweeted, "#Avatar2 Not Happening in #Vetri due to disagreement of terms 😞. Though I offered a premium from the usual Hollywood terms (incl Endgame) the distribution is not ready to budge down from their stand. We’ve supported @DisneyStudiosIN so much in the past but EOD it’s business." (sic)

Ruban Mathivanan, Managing director of GK Cinemas, also tweeted, "Tried our best to screen #AvatarTheWayOfWater at #GK but couldn’t reach an agreeable terms!" (sic)

He added, "All the investments and upgrades done towards screening this film has gone to waste, I know few theatre owners spending lakhs and few changed projectors which costs almost a crore. What a shame."

Earlier, the Film Exhibitors United Organisation of Kerala (FEUOK) on Tuesday (November 29) announced that it won’t screen the film in Kerala on the new profit-sharing terms.

Meanwhile, hundreds of fans, who watched the special screening of the film screened on Thursday at 12 at the Rohini Theatre in Koyambedu, Chennai stated that the film was good and they are looking forward to the next part of the movie.

Helmed by James Cameron, the film is being billed as the fourth most expensive film of all time and is expected to become the highest-grossing movie, breaching the record set by the previous best, namely, 'Avatar'. The film stars Zoe Saldana, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Cliff Curtis, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Edie Falco, Jemaine Clement, and Kate Winslet. The director also revealed that it took at least 13 years to come up with the screenplay for 'Avatar 2'.